Machine
by Fireside Stories
Summary: In the midst of battle, a marine has a close encounter with a deadly elite, but as he is ready to accept his death and lay lifeless on the ground like the rest of his squad, he is saved by a giant armored killing-machine.


**Machine**

"Get down!"

I dove for cover, barely seeing my closest friend be incinerated by a fuel rod cannon. I felt the searing heat against my skin as it scorched my armor.

I rolled over and yelled when I saw a massive elite standing right in front of me – wielding a deadly, sharp, searing-hot energy sword, ready to cook my insides. I shuffled backwards as fast as I could, but I had reacted too late.

The elite had reached down and grabbed my neck, lifting me up into the air. I tried to pick up my gun with my foot, but instead kicked it behind me, out of reach. I looked around, hoping to see someone else that was still alive. But I turned to see my last hope, private James, get shot it the chest by an enemy sniper, the beam piercing through him. His eyes rolled back and he fell, blood running from his mouth and the opening in his torso.

I looked the elite in the eye – bringing my fist back and launching it forward – hitting the beast in the face as hard as I could. I was determined to not go down without a fight. My armored fist just bounced off of its energy shield, and it didn't even flinch. It began laughing. It was enjoying this.

As it pulled back its sword, ready to strike, I shut my eyes. The entirety of my sad, worthless, little life passed before my eyes in an instant, and I began feeling a gut wrenching regret for the things I had done, and the things that I should have done.

The searing pain in my chest I expected never came, and I opened my eyes. I was surprised to see that the elite was now missing its head. It's body, only just realizing it no longer had a brain, finally dropped me.

After recovering, I picked up my gun off the ground and aimed at a couple of panicking grunts, but somebody beat me to them. They toppled over before I could even pull the trigger. I looked for the source of the bullets and gasped when I saw a massive... _thing_ in green armor blow another elite's chest open with a shotgun in one hand, while shooting a jackal with an SMG in the other.

I could only stare as he- no... _it_ continued to slaughter the covenant forces as if they were nothing. After killing at least five more grunts and another sword-wielding elite, its SMG clicked empty. The gun fell to the ground, using both hands now to fire the shotgun. It turned and aimed at a group of three elites charging at it, each with their own energy sword.

_One, two, three._

He killed all of them – their gibblets and lifeless bodies falling to the ground after each deafening blast. As his shotgun finally ran dry, he pulled out his sidearm, a 9mm Magnum.

I had almost forgotten I was still in the middle of a firefight. I had barely dodged a jackal that had snuck up behind me and attempted to tackle me to the ground. It tripped and fell as I shot it with my assault rifle.

When I looked back at the giant, armored-tank of a soldier, I saw another elite sprinting up behind them and swinging.

"Behind you!" I called out, but I was sure I was too late. Almost faster than I could process, it ducked under the sword and jumped backwards into the elite with enough force to send it sliding across the ground. The soldier quickly got up and turned around, walking over to the dazed elite and looked at it, before literally stomping its face in.

After killing the few remaining aliens in the area, the hulking mass of armor walked towards me and offered its massive hand. I took it and it pulled me up off the ground.

"Who... who are you...?" I could barely form words – the sequence of events that just took place left me in awe. This... this killing machine had saved my life in meer seconds. Not even an ODST could do that. I had never seen anything like it. It then spoke up, its voice, though definitely human, seemed completely emotionless.

"Meet up with the rest of your platoon. They're moving to rally point Alpha," he said – his deep, rough voice making him seem even more menacing.

Then, without further details, the killing machine turned and jogged towards the enemy lines.

* * *

When I finally made it to the command tent so I could report about the rest of my squad, I overheard a Gunnery Sergeant speaking to one of the commanders over a radio: "I appreciate it. He saved lots of lives today."

I knew in my gut that they were talking about _him_. The man-machine hybrid that saved my life.

I don't know where he is now, what he's doing, or even what he is, but somehow... I have a feeling that he's going to be the one that will finally end this war.

* * *

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